Grand prix has speed related rumble. Seems to come from RF wheel. Wheel bearing feels tight. LF front is barely loose. Car has 150k miles. Should I trust my ear and change RF? Car is quiet at 30mph. Seems to make noise at 40mph+
Does the rumble change location when you rotate the tires? I’d try that first.
We did rotate tires several months ago. Don’t really want to move them to diagnose problem. But, I assume some effort is required. Ah yes, wheel bearings or tires? It’s kids car. I rarely drive it. But I do know what an objectionable noise sounds like
You are going to have to take the wheel off to get to the bearing anyway. It isn’t a big deal to spin the other wheel off. I’d rotate just the offending side, to make sure.
You don’t want to do all that work and then find it was something else.
Sounds like a wheel bearing to me. But you could do a few things first, switch the tires, put it up on a lift an listen carefully with a mechanics stethoscope while you rotate the wheel, comparing one side to the other, inspect the condition of the brakes and calipers, making sure they are properly lubed and some part is not rubbing on some part. If after you do all that, and still uncertain, what I’d do is pay an inde mechanic knowledgeable about the subtleties of this particular make of car to take it for a test drive and offer an opinion.
Safely raise the vehicle. Transmission in neutral. With your left hand grasp the area of the strut where the lower part of the coil spring sits. With your right hand spin the wheel as fast as you can. You should be able to feel the noisy bearing.
Why not just do both wheel bearings?
If one is bad, the other may not be far behind.